Acupressure, The Ears & Weight Loss

Food cravings, excessive appetite and fatigue can all indicate that your qi or vital life energy is drained or blocked, according to traditional Chinese medicine, or TCM. With the help of a TCM professional, you can learn to stimulate acupressure points located on the ear to help you fight food cravings throughout the day and restore your qi --- and your body --- to a state of balance.

Theory

Acupressure works by pressing and massaging key points that lie along subtle energy lines, called "meridians," that run throughout the body. When qi becomes blocked due to trauma, stress, excessive exertion or poor diet, acupressure can help to flush out stale energy and restore the free flow of qi to the meridians. Opening blocked meridians helps to deliver nourishment to all parts of the body and curb food cravings, according to Shoshanna Katzman of the Red Bank Acupuncture and Wellness Center in Tinton Falls, New Jersey, in the book "Qigong for Staying Young."

Tools

You can stimulate points using your fingertips alone, but there are a wide variety of acupressure tools available to help you hit ear points precisely and easily. Ear beads --- tiny self-adhesive balls that you tape to your ear over pressure points --- stay in place all day long. When food cravings arise, press on the beads to stimulate the points. Some TCM practitioners recommend using the seeds of the vaccaria plant rather than beads. The qi carried by these seeds helps to invigorate the blood, open meridians and clear stale qi more quickly, according to the website Yin Yang House.

Research

Ear acupressure using vaccaria seeds has demonstrated some advantages over magnetic beads and over tape alone, according to a 2010 study published in the "American Journal of Chinese Medicine" by Ching Hsieh of the Chang Gung Institute of Technology in Taiwan. The study followed three groups of adolescents for eight weeks. All three groups received counselling on weight loss strategies. While the tape-only group increased body mass index by 0.046 points, the magnetic bead group lost an average of 0.7 BMI points, and the vaccaria seed group lost an average of 1.2 BMI points. A BMI loss of 1.2 points equals a weight loss of approximately 7 pounds for a 5-foot, 5-inch tall woman.

Key Point

One of the most important points for appetite control sits on the fleshy flap that guards the ear opening, in line with the jaw joint, according to the website Holistic Online. To stimulate the point, take the flap between your thumb and forefinger. Rub, pull, knead and press and hold this area on each ear for two to three minutes in order to fight food cravings whenever they arise. When you feel a warm, numb sensation spread out under your fingers, you'll know you've begun to stimulate the flow of qi.

Considerations

Consult an acupressure professional for a complete diagnosis and instruction on how to use ear beads for ear acupressure. The National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, or NCCAOM, provides certification for acupressure practitioners under the category of "Asian Bodywork Therapy Certification." NCCAOM maintains an online registry that you can use to find a practitioner near you.